Monsoon hits Kerala 3 days ahead of schedule

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/NEW DELHI: Three days ahead of schedule, the monsoon arrived in Kerala Sunday, with heavy rains being reported since Saturday night in the central and southern districts of the state, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

"The southwest monsoon has set in over Kerala on Sunday , May 29, three days in advance to the normal onset on June 1," said a press release issued by the IMD in Delhi on Sunday.

It added that the onset of the monsoon "took place in association with an upper air cyclonic circulation over southeast Arabian Sea off the Kerala coast" .

The monsoon has also advanced into most parts of south Arabian Sea and some parts of Tamil Nadu, south Bay of Bengal and south Andaman Sea, said the IMD. Kumarakom, the pristine tourist destination in Kerala, has recorded the heaviest rainfall of 12cm, an official said.

The IMD report said that conditions were favourable for the advance of the monsoon over some more parts of the Arabian Sea, remaining parts of Kerala, some more parts of Tamil Nadu, south Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea and some parts of Karnataka during the next two-three days. From 2005, the IMD has been issuing a forecast on the onset of the monsoon over Kerala using an indigenously developed statistical model.

The forecasts based on this model during the last six years have been correct.The department has forecast that the monsoon is likely to be normal this year, with 98% of the expected rainfall.